Up on the Rooftop
by ilovetvalot
Summary: A lot of confidences are shared on the Bureau's rooftop. TWOSHOT. Takes place after the season premiere
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note - OKAY, MY FRIENDS, WE ONLY HAVE FIVE DAYS LEFT TO VOTE FOR OUR FAVES IN THE Profiler's Choice CM Awards. ALL the details can be found on "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. Links are in my profile page. If you've got ANY questions, PLEASE PM me. Also, for every person that votes in at least TEN categories, you are automatically registered to win one of two Amazon. com gift cards. So, please, put on those reading hats, grab a cup of coffee and check out the ballot. We have some great stories and fabulous authors up for consideration.**

**As always, I invited you to join me and tons of other authors and readers over at Facebook. We're having a blast getting to know each other, encouraging each other and swapping ideas! Simply friend "Ilovetvalot Fanfiction."**

**As always, we thank everyone for reading our stories. Reviews keep me motivated to keep going, so, if you have a moment drop a comment. Thanks again for following our work.**

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**Up on the Rooftop**

**Chapter One**

Inhaling deeply as she stepped out on the roof of the building, Jennifer Jareau quickly looked around, ensuring she was alone. Shoulders sagging with relief as she confirmed she was indeed the solitary occupant of the rooftop, she sank into one of the iron chairs dotting the concrete.

Perhaps the isolation would do her good. She'd had her fill of fierce looks and openly hostile gazes directed at her for the day, and if she could only find a moment to collect her thoughts, she just might survive until midnight.

Running a restless hand through her hair, JJ sighed as she dropped her chin, her thoughts refusing to remain silent. Jesus, she'd thought she was prepared for her colleagues' reaction for her duplicity regarding Emily's alleged death.

But, nothing could have prepared her for today.

Nothing.

Hearing the steel door open behind her, JJ tensed as she looked over her shoulder. Automatically relaxing as she noted the intruder's identity, she forced herself to smile. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey, yourself," Aaron Hotchner's deep voice returned as he slowly let the door slip back into the jamb. "I wondered where you'd disappeared to," he offered quietly as he walked toward her, dropping into the vacant bench seat beside her. Scratching his bearded face, he offered her a sidelong glance. "Any particular reason you're sitting out here in the chilly air?"

"Trust me, Hotch, it feels warmer out here than it does in there," she responded ruefully, jerking her head toward the closed entrance to the building.

"We knew it would be hard," Hotch murmured, leaning back as he gazed out at the starry sky. Crossing his ankle over his knee, he sighed. "We didn't exactly win ourselves any points for popularity, but, eventually, they'll recognize that we acted in the best entrance of the team."

"You almost sound convincing," JJ replied dryly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as the wind kicked up around them. "Unfortunately, in the meantime, there's hell to pay."

"JJ, you didn't need to share in the blame," Hotch said softly, reaching out a hand to cover hers, "but I appreciate the fact that you were willing to do so. It meant a lot to me."

Smiling faintly as she stretched her legs out in front of her, she shrugged. "It wasn't fair to make them think you were entirely responsible when you weren't." Personal experience had shown her that this man had bore the brunt of too many decisions alone, and she had made herself a promise that she would never allow him to take full responsibility for decisions that were not his alone to make. "No man can play Hercules forever, Hotch," she reminded him softly.

"I suppose you're right," he acknowledged with a slight tilt of his head, his dark hair falling across his forehead. "But I know how hard this has to be for you. Especially with Reid."

"He's angrier than I've ever seen him," JJ admitted truthfully, her frown deepening as she remembered the furious betrayal that had burned in Spencer's eyes when she'd finally told him the complete and unvarnished truth about the events that had occurred over the past months. "I'm not sure...I don't know if he'll come back, Hotch," JJ confessed huskily, her stomach churning with worry.

Hotch tightened his fingers around JJ's for the barest of seconds. "It may take some time, JJ. But we both know him and we know that while he's hurt, he's also quick to forgive once he's examined all sides of the equations. But he has to have time."

"What if it's too much time for him?" JJ asked, worry evident in her tone as she turned to meet Hotch's eyes. The shards of moonlight glinted off his face, only to fade away as a cloud drifted across the darkened sky. "We both know what could happen, Hotch."

"And we both also know how far he's come from where he was before," Hotch countered, shaking his head. "The Reid I saw today is not the same man that was overcome by his fears and betrayals before, JJ. That Reid was fragile...uncertain of himself. This Reid is..."

"Pissed," JJ supplied readily, her memory vividly recalling the icy gaze that had followed her most of the day.

"That's one word for it," Hotch acknowledged as he sighed. "And, unfortunately, it's certainly accurate."

Her lips tightening, JJ shivered as the evening breeze suddenly blew colder, her thin shirt a poor defense against the gusts that whipped across the open roof top. "You know, I've always blamed myself for what happened to him then," she finally whispered as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "And now…."

"You're no more to blame now than you were then, JJ," Hotch assured her quietly, glancing up at the shuttered moon, the city lights reflecting into the darkened sky. "Any one of the others would have made the same decision we reached if they'd been put into the situation." He paused before adding, voice firm, "Then and now."

"Do you really believe that, Hotch?" JJ asked seriously, turning sideways in her seat to face him, her shoulder leaning against his.

"I sincerely do," Hotch replied with a nod. "I don't think very many of them would admit it at the moment. But I think they each realize in their own way that protecting Emily was our only option."

"I hope you're right," JJ murmured, unconvinced, her mind entirely too jammed with the disapproval of her friends and colleagues to allow such a simple statement to be taken at face value. Letting her eyes settle on the man beside her, it was easy to see even in the dim light that the last half a year had taken its toll on him. New lines marred his handsome face. The hair at his temples was threaded with more gray. Even his eyes bore a heavy weariness that only too many sleepless nights spent worrying could bring. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, worried, "Are you okay, Aaron?"

"The bad guy is dead," he stated flatly, turning his head slightly to avoid meeting her penetrating gaze. "Emily is safe. That's all that matters."

"That isn't what I asked," JJ countered evenly, well accustomed to the older man's evasiveness when it came to his personal life. And while he may have possessed the same ability to compartmentalize as Emily, JJ knew that she could outlast him, no matter how determined he might be.

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**A/N - Take a moment and let us know your thoughts.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note - OKAY, MY FRIENDS, WE ONLY HAVE ****FOUR**** DAYS LEFT TO VOTE FOR OUR FAVES IN THE Profiler's Choice CM Awards. ALL the details can be found on "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. Links are in my profile page. If you've got ANY questions, PLEASE PM me. Also, for every person that votes in at least TEN categories, you are automatically registered to win one of two Amazon. com gift cards. So, please, put on those reading hats, grab a cup of coffee and check out the ballot. We have some great stories and fabulous authors up for consideration.**

**As always, I invited you to join me and tons of other authors and readers over at Facebook. We're having a blast getting to know each other, encouraging each other and swapping ideas! Simply friend "Ilovetvalot Fanfiction."**

**As always, we thank everyone for reading our stories. Reviews keep me motivated to keep going, so, if you have a moment drop a comment. Thanks again for following our work.**

* * *

**Up on the Rooftop**

**Chapter Two**

"I'm fine," Hotch said, exhaling heavily as he stared into the darkness. "I guess I feel better once I see Jack again. I've missed him."

"I can understand that." JJ nodded, aware of his slight dodging of her question but willing to let it pass. She had always felt an odd kinship with the taciturn man when it came to their children. "Will has Henry for the weekend and I'm always at loose ends until he gets back."

Forehead furrowing as he turned to gaze at the woman he'd known for years, Hotch shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

Eyes widening as she realized just how far behind the curve Hotch was, JJ grimaced. "That's right! You don't know."

"Know what, JJ?" Hotch asked sharply, frowning at her as he narrowed his eyes. "Has something happened between you and Will?" he asked, concerned for the younger woman.

"We split up," JJ said starkly, nodding her head as she delivered the blunt words. "When I told him that I was returning to the Bureau, he gave me an ultimatum. One I couldn't live with," she filled him in quietly.

Grimacing as he processed the surprising information, Hotch shook his head. "This place is hell on relationships," he muttered, his tone filled with a mixture of regret and sadness. Turning to look at her again, he asked, "Why did you come back again?"

"I missed my family," JJ responded simply, shrugging one shoulder as if that answered everything. Shaking her head unconsciously, she whispered, "He never understood that. When Dave contacted me about filling Emily's position, I knew what Will would say...how he'd fight me on it. And he didn't disappoint me," she stated weakly, the memories of the harsh, bitter words still at the forefront of her thoughts.

"It's hard on the people we love, JJ," Hotch offered gently.

"Not if you love someone enough, Hotch. Not if you love them the way you should," JJ denied, shaking her head as she squared her shoulders. "The simple fact is that he didn't. But, he is a good father to Henry and at this point, that's all I care about."

"I can understand that," Hotch agreed as he nodded slowly, pressing his hand against hers. "I didn't want to have to share the commiseration of single parenthood with you, though. I hoped you and Will would beat the odds."

"If anybody could get it, I knew it was you." JJ smiled slightly. "And as for Will, I knew it wasn't working when I couldn't bring myself to say yes to any of his proposals," she admitted as she shrugged. "It didn't feel right."

"I've got to admit though, I was surprised when Dave told me that you'd accepted the position," Hotch confided, rolling his stiff neck from side to side as he attempted to ease the cramping muscles. "I thought you didn't want to be a profiler."

"There was a time that I felt that way," JJ acknowledged, her mind filled with a flash of memory from similar conversation on a long-ago plane ride. "But...the chance to be back here with everyone was too much to resist."

Hotch chuckled. "So, Rossi made you an offer you couldn't refuse."

"Dave can definitely be persistent when he wants something." JJ nodded, returning his smile. "But, he's actually been a surprisingly good teacher. And patient, considering everything that's happened since I came back. He was the only one not glaring at me today."

"Dave realizes that sometimes difficult decisions have to be made. Hell, he's been the one forced into making them on more than one occasion," Hotch replied, shifting on the metal bench. "He's not going to judge either of us."

"I'm glad," JJ said softly as she felt her tense shoulders relax slightly.

Raising an eyebrow, Hotch narrowed his eyes on the relieved woman beside him. "Do I detect an undercurrent of something more there, JJ?"

"What?" JJ blinked, silently thanking God for the darkness as she felt her cheeks heat. "No! Dave had just been kind in light of the recent changes in my life. All of the team has. Well, until now."

"Dave doesn't just lend his support to anybody, you know," Hotch informed her, keeping his voice low. "But, as far as anything personal goes," he warned, "he doesn't have the greatest track record."

"H-Hotch," JJ faltered, unsure what to say as she felt her cheeks start to burn in spite of the cold wind gusting around them.

"Hey," Hotch murmured, unaccustomed to seeing the usually serene woman flustered, "I'm not saying he's not one of the good guys. I'm just saying that you might want to keep your eyes open. On an official level, I don't want to know anything."

"There's nothing to know on any level, Hotch. Official or otherwise," JJ said quickly, shaking her head rapidly. "Honestly, beyond my son, I don't think I'm looking for any kind of relationship in the foreseeable future. It's too hard. Especially now that there's Henry to consider."

"Preaching to the choir," Hotch snorted as he rolled his eyes. "Bet you never thought we'd have so much in common, did you?" he asked dryly.

"No, I guess I didn't," JJ laughed, relaxing once again as she leaned back against the chair. "But at least I'm in good company."

"Thanks." Hotch grinned. Sighing, he looked toward the door. "You ready to go back in there?" he asked, nodding toward the entrance as he rose.

"I'll be inside in just a minute," JJ answered, pulling her sweater more tightly against her. She needed just a few silent seconds to catch her breath and process the events of the past day.

"Okay." Hotch nodded, walking toward the door. Pausing as he reached for the handle, he turned to look over his shoulder. "JJ?"

"Yes," she replied, jerking her head back up from its bent position.

"I'm glad you're back," he offered truthfully.

"You, too," JJ returned, watching as he inclined his head before disappearing back into the building.

Leaning her head back against the seat, she blew out a long breath. If today had been any indication at all, the upcoming weeks and months were going to be filled with discord and dissonance. It was a relief to know she had at least a few allies left to rely on.

She had a feeling she was going to need each and every one of them.

**Finis**

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**Please take a moment and let us know what you thought...stay tuned for "The Sisterhood".**


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